Feed-table.



1. A. CUMMINGS.

FEED TABLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. I911- ten Apr. 23, 1918.

IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEY' 1. A. CUMMINGS.

FEED TABLE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 28, I917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENITIOR.

, ATTORNEY 1. A. CUMMINGS.

FEED TABLE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. I91?- 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

attain? Patnted Apr. 23, 1918.

J. A. CUMMINGS.

v FEED TABLE. 4

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. I91].

Patenteol Apr. 23, 1918. MW 4 $lf|EETS-SHEET 4-.

3 .0 L/Q 1 ED L b H o O 29 2a "2,6 G 6) I O its rearnr L ana,

JOHN A. cuivuaiNes, of sensors, MAINE, assieNon TO LIGHTNING snnn overrun COMPANY, or BANGOR, MAINE, a conronarioN or MAINE.

FEED-TABLE.

Specification of Letters Eatent. p tn mg,

Application fiieana as, 1917'. Serial No. 171,441.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, JOH A. CUMMINGS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bangor, county of Penobscot, State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FeedTables, of which the following is a specification.

The device forming the subject matter of this application is a feed table adapted to be used with potato seed cutting machines and it is the object of the invention to provide a table of inexpensive construction, which will not accumulate the dirt that is always present with materials of this nature; the construction of table being such that it maybe manufactured readily out of metal stock and will possess great. strength and durability.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide means for quickly .adjustingthe size of the "feed chutes, specifically. the width, to

I adapt them to potatoes of various sizes.

V The invention consists of the novel featuresof construction hereinafter described and claimed, and shownin the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is aside elevation, Fig, 2 is a rear elevation,

Fig.3 is a top plan. view,

Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the chute adjusting mechanism, 1 i I Fig 5 is a side elevation of the front plate of the frame, and

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the rear plate of the frame.

The framework is mounted upon a suitable base or table 1 and consists of side pieces formed of flat metal bars having horizontal' portions 2, which rest on and are secured to the table, said bars having upright end portions 3, 4. The front uprights 3, 3, and the rear uprights 4, 1, are connected together in pairs by horizontal brace rods 5 and 6 respectively,which are preferably riveted to the uprights.

Secured to the upper portions of said uprights 3 and 4 are front and rear plates 7 and 8 respectively, the forms of which are best seen in Figs. 5 and 6, said plates 7 and 8 being formed with holes 3, t, respectively, to receive the rivets or bolts by which these plates and uprights are connected .together.

The front portion of the frame is also connected to the base by inclined brace rods a top inclined brace rod 10 is connected to the front and rear plates by bolts or rivets pass ing through the bent ends of said rod and through holes 10, 10 formed in the. front and rear plates respectively.

Horizontal side brace rods 11 also connect the front and rear plates 7 and 8, said rods being connected tothe front plate by bolts projecting through thebent front ends of the rods and through the front plate and uprights 3 at 11, the rear ends of said rods passing through holes in the plate 8 and uprights 4: and screwthreaded ontheir ends toreceive nuts 12 by which said rods may be drawn up. i

The inclined chutes, down which the potatoes pass from a bin to the hopper of a seed cutter (neither of which are shown as they form no part of the present invention) are preferably made entirely of wire. Each side of the chutes consists of a single piece of heavy wire 13 bent twiceupon itself. The two upper portions of thewires 13 extend beyond the rearplate 8 through open- 7 ings 1 1 formed therein, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6.

At the front of thetable the side wires 13 of the chutes are welded or soldered to upwardly extending rods 15, two of which for each chute are mounted at their lower ends on pivots 15' fixed in the horizontal bar 5. At the rear of the table the side wire 13 of each chute is connected to a supporting rod 16 hinged to the table 1 by means of staple 16', passing through an eye formed in the lower end of the rod.

' The bottom of each chute consists of: two wires 17, loosely mounted in holes 17 in the rear plate 8 and bent near their rear ends, as shown in Fig. 3, to increase the distance between them to permit the passage of an ejector, hereinafter described. The front ends of these wires 17 extend through openings 7 in the front plate 7 and are formed with eyes 17 2 by means of which said wires may be connected to the shaking bottom board of a bin, suchas describedin my United States Patent No. 1,118,923, for the The cross sectional area of the chutes is V such that the potatoes will travel down said chutes in single rows. As in my prior patent I provide means forarrestmg the movement of the potatoes'and e ecting them one at a time from the chute into the hopper of.

a'suitable cutter, (not shown). p

The ejectors consist of single pieces of wire 18 bentin the form shown to receive the potatoes, and adapted to bemoved into andout ofthe chutes between the bent portions of the wires 17. The ejectors are carried by a block 19 which isslidably mounted on vertical standards 20 fixed in the table 1. This block is loosely connected to a yoke 21 pivotally mounted in the free ends of two short lever arms 22 forming part of a rocking frame 23 hinged to the table 1. A third arm 24 of said frame is located at one side of the structure and has an upwardly curved free end designed to be engaged by an actuating member of the cutter (not shown) which member is adapted to periodically engage said end to raise the zftrpi and disengage it to allow the arm to A flat leaf spring 25 having one end fixed to the table 1 and its free end extending over the yoke 21 operates to quickly lower the block when the arm 24 of the rock fra'mehas been freed by said actuating members.

The width of the chutes is adjustable, within certain limits, so that various sizes of potatoes maybe constrained to feed in single rows. r

The adjusting means, which is adapted to adjust both chutes simultaneously, consists of a plurality of bars movable in parallel relation to a centrally arranged, preferably fiat metal bar 26, which is slidably mounted in an opening 26 in the front plate 7 and in a hanger 26 connected by rivets 26 to the rear plate and projecting below thelower edge thereof, as shown in Fig, 6. Upon opposite sides of the bar 26 are arranged the intermediate parallel bars 27 ,28, which'project through openings 27, 28, respectively in the front plate 7 These intermediate bars arewloosely connected to the bar '26 by means of links 29, and on the outside of the intermediate bars 27, 28 are arranged bars '30, 31, which also project through the openings 27 and 28 respectively;

The outside bar 30 is loosely connected by twolinks 30 to the intermediate bar 27 and the outside bar 31 is loosely connected by two links 31 to the intermediate bar 28. The intermediate and outside bars project through the, spaceformed between the lower edge of the rear plate 8 and, the brace rod 6, and are supported'by the latter.

The supporting rods 15 of one chute pass through holes 15 in one'pair of bars, '11. 6.,

27 and 31 and the rods 15 of the other chute pass through the holes 15 in the other pair of bars, z. 0., 28 and 30. The rear supporting rods 16 pass through corresponding holes 16 in said pairs of bars. An operating lever 32 pivoted on the central bar 26 has one end pivotally connected to the intermediate bar 28 only, so that by moving the free end of the operating lever in either direction from the position shown, both 1n-- termediate bars, through the medium of the links 29, will be moved toward the central bar 26 and by the arrangement of links 30, 31, the outside bars 30 and 31 will be simultaneously moved away from the intermediate bars thus increasing the distance between the intermediate and outside bars and increasing the distance between the sides of the chutes.

To prevent more than one potato in each chute from being elevated at a time by the ejector, and to prevent potatoes which are too large for use from reaching the ejeetors, I provide a grading mechanism at the discharge ends of the chutes. This mechanism comprises two hangers 32 which are fixed to the rear uprights 4 and extending above the latter, are formed with forwardly extending overhanging portions 33. A wire 34 mounted in said overhanging portions extends downward therefrom and transversely across the chutes, near the tops thereof.

A wire 35 is pivoted in the hangers below the wire 34 and extends forward and downward over the latter and is normally supported thereby in its lowest position. As the potatoes are elevated by the ejectors 18 they will strike against the wire 35 and be thrown forward through the openings 14, of the rear plate, onto downwardly inclined lips 8 formed on said plate below the openings.

The distance between the wire 35 and the tops of the chutes may be regulated by means of cam wires 36, which are adjustably connected to the top brace 10 by means of a thumb nut 37; the wire 35 having a central bent-in portion 35, is adapted to be engaged by the cam-wires 36 when the lat ter are drawn forward. The wire 34 has a central arched portion 34 to permit the cam wires 36 to be drawn forward without engaging the wire 34.

' When the above described table is connected up to a bin and cutter of the character described in the above mentioned patent, the bottom rods 17, by means of the eyes 17 will be connected to the shaking bottoms of the bin, and as said wires will be given a slight longitudinal movement, their rear ends are free to move in the openings 17 in the rear plate 8. As the ejectors 18 are normally held below the bottom wires of the chutes by the action of the spring 25,

potatoes of a size that can pass beneath the Wire 35 Will lie against the rear. plate over the ejectors. At the proper time, the actuating member of the cutter Will engage and raise the lever 24 moving the ejectors upward between the bottom Wires and lifting the potatoes so that they Will strike against the Wire 85 and be pushed thereby through the openings 14; of the rear plate onto the inclined lips 8 which are designed to be connected With the hopper (not shown) of the cutter. The actuating member then releases the lever 24 and the lever, and the doctors are retracted b the sorin 25 and the next potato in each chute if not too large to pass the Wire 35, will move down against the rear plate. i

It Will be apparent that various changes or modifications in both the form and construction of the parts and their arrangement will readily suggest themselves to anyone making and using the table, and I do not therefore restrict myself to the specific construction and arrangement of parts herein shownanddescribed, but reserve to myself all equivalents thereof as might come Within the terms of the claims.

I claim- 1. In a feed table and grader of the character described, a trough-shaped feed chute having laterally movable sides, and mechanism operatively connected With said sides adapted. to move the latter in parallelism simultaneously in opposite directions, to

increase ordiminish the cross sectional area i of said (chute.

2. In a feed table and grader of the character described, a trough-shaped feed chute having laterally movable sides,.movable supports carrying the latter, and mechanism operatively connected to the supports to swing the latter in parallelism simultaneously in opposite directions to increase or diminish the cross sectional area of the chute.

3. In a feed table and grader of the character described, a plurality of parallel trough-shaped feed chutes having movable sides, and adjusting mechanism operatively connected With the sides adapted to move the sides of each chute simultaneously in parallelism in opposite directions to increase or diminish the cross sectional area of the chutes.

4. In a feed table and grader of the character described, a plurality of parallel trough-shaped feed chutes having movable sides, adjusting mechanism operatively connected With the sides adapted to move the sides of each chute simultaneously in parallelism inopposite directions to increase or diminish the cross sectional area of the chutes, and a single actuating member for operating the adjusting mechanism.

5. In a feed table and grader of the character described, a trough-shaped feed chute consisting of a plurality of longitudinally arranged WlIGS forming the bottom and up- Wardly extending sides, means whereby the side W1res may be moved laterally independently of the bottom Wires to increase or diminish the cross sectionalarea of the chute, and a gradlngivire extending transversely of the chute above the latter, and. adapted to prevent the passage of oversize material. i i

6. In a feed table and grader of the character described, a trouglrshaped feed chute consisting of a plurality of longitudinally arranged wires forming the bottom and up- Wardly diverging sides, means whereby the side Wires may be moved laterally independently of thebottom Wires to increase or diminish the cross sectional area of the chute, a gradmg Wire extending transversely of the chute above the latter, and means to adjust the grading Wire relatively to the chute.

T. Ina feed table and grader of the char acter described, a trough-shaped feed chute consisting of a plurality of longitudinally arranged WlI'GS forming the bottom and upi *ardly diverging sides, means whereby the posite directions to increase or diminish the cross sectional area of the chute.

9. In a feed table and grader of the character described, a trough-shaped feed chute having laterally movable sides, pivoted sup i ports for the latter, parallel movable members engaging the supports, and means to simultaneously move said supports and members laterally in opposite directions.

10. In a feed table and grader of the character described, the combination of a plurality of trough-shaped feed chutes having laterally movable sides, an adjusting device for the latter comprising a centrally arranged bar, pair of parallel bars on opposite sides of the central bar, upright, laterally movable bars supporting the sides of the chutes and projecting through the parallel bars, and means to move the bars of each pair of parallel bars laterally in opposite directions.

11. In a feed table and grader of the character described, the combination of a plural- I ity of trough-shaped feed chutes, having laterally movable sides,an adjusting device for the latter comprising a centrally arranged bar, a pair of parallel bars on opposite sides ofv the central bar, forming intermediate and outside bars, links pivotally connecting the central bar to an intermediate bar on each side ofthe central bar, links pivotally connecting the. intermediate bars With the outside bars, the connected intermediate bars and outside bars being located on opposite sides of the central bar, and pivotedsupporting bars operatively connecting the sides of the chutes With theparallel bars.

In a feed tablecand grader, of the character described, the combination of a plural ity of trough-shaped feed chutes having laterally movable sides, an adjusting device for the latter comprising a centrally arranged bar, a pair of parallel bars on 0pposite sides of the central bar, forming in termediate and outside bars, links pivotally connecting the central bar to an intermediate bar on each side of the central bar, links pivotally connecting the intermediate bars With the outside bars, the connected intermediate bars and outside bars being located on opposite sides of the central bar, pivoted upright bars operatively connecting the sides of the chutes and extending through the parallel bars, and means including the links whereby the intermediate bar and outside bar of each pair are simultaneously moved laterally in opposite directions. 7

13. A feed table and grader of the char acter described, comprising a skeleton metal frame-Work, a trough shaped feed chute mounted therein having skeleton sides and longitudinally movable wires forming the bottom, and means ontheframe whereby the sides of the chutes may be moved laterally independently of the bottom Wires to Copies of this patent may be obtained for increase or diminishthe cross sectional area of the chute.

l l. A.metal feed table and grader of the character described, comprising front and rear upright bars, transverse and longitudinally arranged braces connecting the uprights, front and rear plates formed with openings and fixed to said uprights, rods forming a chute bottom slidably supported in the rear plate, pivoted upright supporting bars mounted adjacent said plates, and Wires forming the sides of the chute fixed to the supporting bars and lying within said openings.

15. In a feed table and grader of the character described, a chute adjusting mechanism comprising a central bar, a pair of parallel bars on opposite sides thereof forming intermediate and outside bars, separate links on each side of the central bar pivotally connecting the latter to the intermediate bars, and links pivotally connecting the intermediate bars with the outside bars, the connected intermediate bars and outside bars being located on opposite sides of the central bar.

16. A metal feed table and grader of the character described, comprising a skeleton metal frame-Work, a feed chute mounted therein having bottom Wires loosely mounted in the rear portion of the frame, supporting bars pivotally mounted Within the frame, Wires forming the sides of the chute fixed on said supporting bars, adjusting bars mountedin the frame and connected to the supporting bars, and means to move the adjusting bars in parallel relation.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name.

JOHN A. CUMMINGS.

five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of l'atonts, Washington, D. 0. 

